


the end is near.

by Super_Danvers



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Lesbians, Pre-Freeze, Sapphic, Slow Burn, alex cavill, alexandra cavill - Freeform, family unit, melanie cavill - Freeform, melaudrey, mentions of self harm, miss audrey - Freeform, snowpiercer - Freeform, the folgers, wilford - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 21:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30028257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: In the months leading up to Snowpiercer's departure, Melanie Cavill finds the last of humanity before the world has even ended.
Relationships: Alexandra Cavill & Melanie Cavill, Miss Audrey/Melanie Cavill
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	the end is near.

**Author's Note:**

> multiple chapters? From moi? UNHEARD OF.

“What about that? How does that feel?”

The skills lab hummed quietly as Melanie flexed her fingers and bent her elbow. Various machines set up around the room always made strange noises that Melanie found strangely comforting, especially when she got tired with doing these exercises. The mechanism fixed to her sleeve moved with her arm in perfect sync, whirring gently as it copied her movements.

They’d been at this a while. Because of Melanie’s busy schedule, her log times for her Breach suit were way down and she needed to catch up with the other engineers in order to meet the training quota. She didn’t mind too much. The mech arm was constantly being improved and each session she had with it, she found it was easier and easier to use. Aside from the machine’s weight making her right arm ache a little, it was fun to use.

She rotated her hand a couple more times, studying the moving metals and plastics that had been fitted perfectly to her arm and grinned.

“Great. It feels great.”

The technician sat at the desk beside Melanie smiled and nodded approvingly. “Good. It should be. The mechanism will be fitted into the Breach sleeve so you won’t have to do all this fixing. It’ll just be ready to go.”

Melanie nodded her understanding. “It’s a shame to hide it. The craftsmanship…it’s amazing.” She moved the arm some more, laughing whenever she gave it a jerk and it flexed perfectly without faltering. “Amazing. Really amazing. You’ve outdone yourself.”

“Thanks.”

Melanie noticed the clock between her fingers and her smile faltered. It was nearly seven. “Shit.” She muttered and started unstrapping the arm. “I need to go.”

“Oh.” The technician stood awkwardly and reached over to help. “Your daughter?”

Melanie gritted a smile and nodded. “Am I becoming that predictable?” She said, humming a small noise of annoyance. The mechanism came off her sleeve and was placed back in its glass case - marked _‘M.Cavill’_.

The technician waved her off and returned to his desk. “I’ll log on two extra hours for you. Say hi to Alex for me.”

Melanie grabbed her coat and as she left, she returned the farewell wave. “Thanks, Tristan!”

He called something out to her, but she didn’t hear him as she hurried down the hallways. It was probably something about not leaving the next session early, which was fine. Sometimes she was having too much fun to keep track of time. As she got closer to her car and further from her office, Melanie realised that she’d left a great deal of paperwork behind and that Mr Wilford would be berating her about it in the morning. Wilford would have to wait. She’d been chewed out by him before, what was one more?

+

Alex was eagerly waiting for her when she got home. The moment Melanie had sorted out dates with Alex’s babysitter, she was all hers. Melanie loved nights like this. Nights where she didn’t have to be at work and she could spend her entire evening with her daughter. Their best conversations, she found, happened when Alex had her bath.

“My newts are bigger.” The seven-year-old enthused as Melanie gently poured a cup of water down her back. “Did you see them? One of them is this weird yellow colour. They have legs and tails and everything now.”

Melanie smiled as Alex jabbered on. Alex was never too concerned with her mother’s work, never unless it regarded her. Too preoccupied with her own little world, which was just the way Melanie liked it. Occasionally, Alex would take some interest in Melanie’s big words and would ask what they meant, even if she didn’t entirely understand the answer her mother would give her.

Melanie scrubbed at Alex’s arms. “They’ll need to go back to their pond soon.”

“Oh.” Alex was quiet for a moment, staring into space as Melanie poured water down her back. “Mom?”

“Hm?”

“Will you die before me?”

Melanie stopped scrubbing and looked at her. Alex had this big, curious look on her face that she always wore when she was trying to see if a question would anger or upset her mother. Melanie frowned. “Yes.” She answered and poured another cup of water down her back. “Parents always die before their children do. It’s usually the way.”

“Usually?”

_Shit._

“Yes, usually.” Melanie repeated, unsure of how to finish that question. Instead, she shook her head. “But you shouldn’t worry about it, sweetheart. I don’t plan on dying for a while.”

“Good.” Another long pause. “Me neither.”

When Alex’s bath was done, they had their usual nightly ritual which consisted of Melanie making dinner, chatting about school, then making up stories whilst carrying Alex around the house on her shoulders. She wasn’t sure why Alex liked doing this so much because it was such an odd ritual for a seven-year-old but she supposed her daughter just liked her company. They both knew she didn’t get enough of it.

Alex would sit on her shoulders and touch every doorframe that Melanie ducked beneath, wishing it goodnight and that she would see it in the morning. In truth, Alex was a little old for this but Melanie wasn’t about to complain. She wished Alex could stay little forever. When the girl had touched every door, she’d do the same to all the photos and would then and only then, let her mother put her to bed.

Melanie pulled the duvet up to her daughter’s chin. “Good?”

Alex pulled her stuffed bear closer and buried her face in it. “Yes.”

“Alright. Well, time for sleep then, isn’t it? Goodnight, my love.” Melanie placed a kiss to her forehead and stood.

Alex caught the hem of Melanie’s hoodie. “Mom?”

“Hm?”

“How long until departure?”

Melanie checked the watch on her wrist. The date was the eighth. “Two months.” She said.

“How long until we have to move?”

 _Ah_. Melanie had been hoping she’d forgotten about that. She was talking about Wilford’s decision to relocate all his top staff closer to the city. With Snowpiercer’s launch looming, press would be coming in and work needed to be hurried. As Melanie and most of her co-workers didn’t live in the city’s centre, their commute time was ‘wasted time’ as Wilford put it.

“A week. Seven days.”

“Oh. Okay.” Alex murmured, letting go of the hoodie snuggling herself further into bed. “G’night.”

Melanie placed a kiss to her daughter’s head. “Goodnight, sweet girl.” She stood and made for the door.

Just as she got there, Alex turned over again. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Will you leave the light on?”

The bedroom light always stayed on. Alex, despite everything, was deathly afraid of the dark. Sometimes, when Melanie stayed up late to work in the living room, the poor girl would traipse in with tears flowing down her face because Melanie had switched the light off when she thought Alex was asleep. Alex was prone to nightmares so the light stayed on no matter what nowadays.

“You got it.” Melanie said, blowing her a kiss across the room. Alex caught it.

Thankfully, tonight didn’t seem to be one of her nightmare nights and with no paperwork, Melanie could actually get some sleep herself. She blew another kiss and left her door ajar so she wasn’t far away.

+

“It’s good to see you again. You’re looking a bit skinny though, are you eating?”

“Hi Mom.” Melanie tried not to roll her eyes as her mother embraced her in a warm hug. “It’s good to see you too.”

They sat at the table. Across the canteen, Melanie kept a watchful eye on Alex, who was collecting her lunch with her grandfather. They’d join soon enough but even at this distance; Melanie could see the unhappy look on her daughter’s face. She hated leaving Alex when work got busy but with the departure date growing closer and closer, Melanie barely had time to eat, let alone look after Alex.

“She’s been a good girl.” Melanie’s mother informed, following her daughter’s gaze. “Takes after her mother.”

Melanie grimaced a smile. “I was hardly well-behaved, Mom. Remember when I had that nose ring?”

“At fourteen, yes. Ugly thing. Can’t believe your father let you get it.” She sighed. “But, at seven, you were the sweetest little thing. You used to wear those little blue overalls, the ones with the carrots on them, remember? So cute.”

“Didn’t you make those for me? I remember I never seemed to outgrow them.”

“I’m making a pair for Alexandra. She’ll be the envy of the train with those on.”

Melanie made a hum of amusement, picturing Alex in the overalls she used to wear. She _would_ look pretty cute. Melanie looked across the canteen again. Her father was still in the queue, patiently waiting with Alex’s little hand in his. She sighed.

“Listen, Mom, I need you to keep her for a while. Longer than a weekend. It’s just for a little while.”

Her mother made an identical sigh, and gave her a knowing look. “I had a feeling you were going to ask me this. I’ve told you before, Melanie, Alexandra should be with her mother.”

“And I’ve told you before: _I can’t._ Wilford has everyone working to the bone to get everything ready for Snowpiercer’s departure date and I don’t have time to look after her. It’s different now. I can’t balance home and work anymore. Not when work is going to be our home, _everyone’s_ home. Please, Mom, she needs to be with you and Dad. She needs someone who will look after her.”

Her mother eyed her unhappily. “You haven’t come to discuss things or see your daughter, have you? Just came to tell me and your father to take her.” She took a long drink of her coffee. “What would you do if we weren’t around, hm?”

Melanie’s father approached with Alex, both of them holding trays of food. Alex beamed as she sat down, wrapping her arms around Melanie. It’d only been a weekend but of course, to a seven-year-old, that was forever. Melanie refreshed her guilty expression and replaced it with a contented smile. Her mother did the same.

“What have you got there, Alexandra?” She asked.

Alex looked at her grandmother as if she’d suddenly gone blind. She pointed at her tray. “Cookies. They’re right there.”

Melanie tried not to laugh. She loved that about Alex: she knew when someone was being condescending. Melanie reached over and stole one of the cookies, shoving it unceremoniously into her mouth. Alex laughed.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Slowpoke.” Melanie grinned as she wiped the crumbs from the side of her mouth.

Her father did the same, stealing one of the chocolate ones, making Alex laugh more. Melanie’s mother rolled her eyes. He shrugged and gave a rare, Gerry Cavill smile. “Double slowpoke.”

+

After more ‘debating’ with her mother, Melanie finally managed to settle out a plan for Alex. She’d move to their new apartment with Melanie and then, the moment work took over, she’d go to her grandparents’ who would board Snowpiercer on the day of departure. Melanie would have to convince Wilford to send a car and if he didn’t, she would find a way of sending one herself.

For now, Melanie was going to have to figure out how to keep Alex entertained at work. It was easier when Alex had school but with the ever-decreasing temperature, school was out and bring your kid to work day was in.

There was a launch press that morning, one that Melanie unfortunately had to be present for. There would be another one a few days before the date where everybody would be attending. Melanie, the other engineers, the passengers, the rest of Snowpiercer’s staff and Wilford himself. Today, thankfully, was just her and her fellow engineers. Alex sat in a corner by the window, half-watching her mother and half-watching the waiting families outside.

Bennett Knox, one of Melanie’s colleagues, rang a spoon against his champagne glass and people looked up from their chatter. He grinned.

“Wow, it’s so amazing to see so many people turn out for us. Almost makes me think our job is worth it.” He chuckled at the weak attempt of humour. Melanie and the others smiled politely. “I guess I should go around introducing ourselves, shouldn’t I? That’s what you want to know. I’m sure you all know me already, considering I’m the one who never shuts up with you lot. If not, my name is Bennett Knox, Ben if you’re offering drinks. I’m secondary engineer on our team so…well, I’m the reason we have rules. That being said, if our engineer team could step forward, that would be a massive help so people can put those excellent names with excellent faces.”

Javi, another of Melanie’s colleagues took a step forward and pushed his glasses up his nose. Ben patted a hand on his shoulder.

“Javier De La Torre. Javi here is one of our finest engineers and on top of that, he makes a wicked martini. Seriously, don’t let him near the bar, he will get you trashed.”

Javi pushed his glasses up his nose again and shyly shook his head. Melanie smiled and stepped forward, letting Ben put his hand on her shoulder as well.

“Last, but most definitely not least, is our Head Engineer, Melanie Cavill. I don’t even have the words to begin to describe Melanie so why don’t you say a few words, eh Mel?” He guided her forward.

Through the small throng of reporters and journalists, Melanie could see Alex sat by the window. Wrapped up in her little winter coat, she had her head rested against the glass as if she were asleep but her eyes were open, following the children running around outside.

“Mel?” Bennett’s voice drifted into her ear.

Alex either noticed the quiet in the crowd or heard her mother’s name because raised her head and found her eyes across the crowd. She smiled wearily but with genuine support. Melanie, hearing her name again, shook her head and came out of her reverie.

“Sorry. Yes.” She took a breath, then addressed the others in the room. “I’m honoured to be on this fantastic team and I’m honoured that you trust me enough to be leading this train on her voyage. Needless to say, I’m very proud of us here at Wilford Industries where we are working tirelessly, day in, day out, to get Snowpiercer up and running. It won’t be long now and I, for one, can’t wait to get going.”

Her speech received scattered applause. It was safe to say the crowd were more charmed by Ben’s easy-going approach and Javi’s adorable modesty than they were by Melanie’s abruptness. She didn’t care. As soon as she was finished talking, she slipped through to join Alex, leaving the boys to be questioned for the next ten minutes.

Alex’s head rested against the window again as soon as her mother sat opposite her. Her stuffed bear remained tightly cuddled to her chest. “Are you done now? Can we go home?”

“In a bit, darling. I’ve got to answer a few questions for a panel in a bit but after that, okay?”

Alex sighed and swung her legs under her chair, bored. “Can we get ice cream after?”

Melanie glanced at the window out the corner of her eye. It was snowing again. “In this weather?”

“Please?”

She couldn’t resist puppy dog eyes. Melanie caved and nodded. “Fine, we’ll get ice cream.”

“Good.” Alex finally gave a smile.

Another voice suddenly spoke. “Hello?”

The Cavills looked up. Stood by their chairs, with a notebook in her arms, was a tall, raven-haired lady with these huge, clear eyes that Melanie couldn’t quite look away from. They stared into her and seemingly right through her. The woman was around Melanie’s age, maybe a few years younger, and was professionally dressed in a white satin blouse with emerald green trousers that created a corset kind of effect around her waist. Melanie had never seen her before.

The woman smiled, exposing a mouth of perfect teeth but a crooked grin that tugged at the left side of her face. Her eyes, blue in colour, sparkled when she smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I think the panel will be ready for you in a few moments, Miss Cavill.”

 _I wish I didn’t have to go_ , Melanie thought. She opened her mouth to respond, but Alex beat her to it. “I like your notebook.” She commented, pointing to the notebook in the woman’s arms.

The notebook was beautiful. The same green as the woman’s trousers, a roaring tiger had been painted intricately onto it, with its dark eyes peeping through jungle leaves and right at Melanie. At the bottom, there was a signature in white paint, but she couldn’t make out the name.

The woman beamed at Alex’s comment. “Thank you,” She said. “I like your bear.”

“He’s called Brunel.”

The woman’s eyes flitted to Melanie, then back to Alex. “Like the engineer?”

As they carried out this small exchange, Melanie found herself unable to stop staring. The woman spoke to Alex with ease, as if she’d known her for years. Her black hair sat in neatly styled curls just below her shoulders and tucked behind her ears, exposing emerald ear rings and a neck that was making Melanie lose her train of thought. She’d never seen somebody so beautiful.

Only when she realised the blue eyes were looking at her again did she find her words.

“Pardon?”

“I said, the panel will start in a few minutes.”

“Oh. Right.” Melanie’s words were slow, and dumb. The woman had distracted her. “Uh, Alex will you be alright here? I shouldn’t be long.”

Alex huffed and sat back. The woman noticed this, and a small noise of amusement arose. “I know the feeling. Have you been sat here a while?”

_“Forever!”_

“Well,” The woman hesitated, unsure if she should go any further. If she looked at Melanie with those eyes one more time, Melanie might just forget how to use English. She hoped the other woman knew French. “I know there’s an exhibit down the corridor. It’s got some of Snowpiercer’s prototypes and I hear it’s _pretty_ cool. You could have a look at those.”

Alex turned to her mother expectantly. Ben and Javi’s crowds were starting to move now: the panel was going to be starting soon.

“I’ll stay with her, if you like.” The woman offered, as if she could read every worry racing through Melanie’s mind. “Make sure she doesn’t get lost or anything.”

Melanie knew she shouldn’t. She was a total stranger. A total stranger who could whisk Alex away or get her hurt or anything like. Melanie knew she shouldn’t but there was something in the woman’s tone that made her trust her. Maybe it was something in her tone, or those _eyes_. The crowds were moving further away now.

“Please, Mom.” Alex made the puppy eyes and made a point to grab the woman’s hand. Everything in Melanie was saying no.

“Um, right, okay. Don’t get lost. You stay with this lady, you hear me? I’m not kidding, _Alexandra_.” Melanie said, already regretting this decision. “You don’t go further than the exhibit, and you don’t let go of her hand. Don’t be getting everybody in trouble, I know what you’re like.”

“I know, I know.” Alex blushed, embarrassed at her mother’s sternness.

Melanie nodded, satisfied. She turned to the dark-haired woman.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this.” She confessed awkwardly. God, what had gotten into her? Melanie hardly liked leaving Alex with her grandparents let alone a stranger. It was those damn eyes and that crooked smile, definitely. They were like a string around Melanie’s heart, tugging her in. “I shouldn’t be long, twenty minutes tops.”

“That’s plenty of time. I’ll bring her back when you’re done.”

Melanie nodded and turned to go. She got two steps before turning on her heel. “I didn’t even get your name.”

The woman smiled. “I’m Audrey.”


End file.
